Bulldogs Poised To Start Practice

December 24, 1992|By George White Of The Sentinel Staff

The Georgia Bulldogs are all present and accounted for, arriving in town Wednesday afternoon to begin preparations for the Jan. 1 Florida Citrus Bowl. An informal get-together at Sea World amusement park welcomed them before they get down to the physical stuff today.

Georgia's first workout begins at 9 a.m. at the Bulldogs' practice site, Jones High School. Three blocks away their New Year's Day opponents, the Ohio State Buckeyes, will be in their fourth day of Florida workouts at the practice field adjacent to the Citrus Bowl. Later this evening the teams will get together for an ''Orange Juice Squeeze-Off'' at MGM Studios.

Ohio State had its first injuries at the Buckeyes' practice Tuesday, serving notice that their practices already are getting physical.

Defensive back Jason Louis broke his nose, backup quarterback Bob Hoying injured his left knee and offensive tackle Jason Winrow jammed a finger. All three are expected to play in the bowl game.

Louis will wear a protective guard over his nose when he returns to practice. Hoying has some tendinitis in his knee. X-rays showed Winrow had only jammed his finger - not broken the digit, as was originally feared.

Georgia's workouts are expected to be equally spirited.

''This is a fun trip,'' said All-Southeasten Conference linebacker Mitch Davis, ''but it's also a work trip.

''We're going to enjoy ourselves when the time comes, but we're there to play football. That's first and foremost on our minds.''

Three of the players in the Citrus Bowl were honored with the announcement of the 1992 GTE Academic All-American team. Two were from Ohio State, offensive lineman Len Hartman and defensive lineman Greg Smith, and one was from Georgia, kicker Todd Peterson.

Hartman is a senior English major with a grade-point average of 3.90. Smith, a senior majoring in zoology/pre-med, has a 3.39 GPA. Peterson, a senior finance major, has a 3.47 GPA.